Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-07-18
ONE OF THE HEROES.
AN AMERICAN JOURNALISTS TRIP
ACROSS THE DESERT TO kHlvA.
A Journey Of 900 Miles Through silent
Ue.olation-3OO Miles of De-rrt-Ks-
The Grave.

porting the Ms,sacres of Bulgaria
The Grave.
And now we come to another American
who should he enshrined as one of the
heroes of the century. His name Is j. A.
NacGahan Like many other great men
he was from Ohio He went to Europe To
complete his collegiate studies The
Franco Prussian war broke out lie en-
tered the field as a correspondent He
did good work, and when the war closed
he was in Journalism for life He visited
Siberia and described its life. lnfurma
ton reached him that Gen. Kaufman and
the Grand Duke Nicolas were about to
make an assault on khiva. IL WAS Rus
sia's boldest move toward India. He de-
termined 10 witness it. He hurried south.
but missed the moving column. Then he
prepared for what proved TO he one of the
most daring rides ever made by man. 1t
was Journey Of coo miles through silent
desolation, with 800 miles Of desert.
Many times he lost his way. Several
times he and his men We're Frustrated by
the heat and thrown upon the sands, only
to be revived by the coming Cf the night.
But despite the loss Of horses, despite the
daily rebellion Of his attendants despite
frequent exhaustion and semi-StaryGtion
for nearly two months, he pushed through
the arid wastes. All through that region
he was called ''Molodyety"-a brave fel
low
After he had started, the Russians
wanted him back. Twenty five Cossacks,
splendid horsemen, were dispatched To
oyertake him. For nearly GOO miles they
chased him across that terrible country,
but when they arrived at a halting place
they always found that Mactiahan had
left IL few hours before. The people
even laughed at the idea of their trying 10
catch such brave fellow as the young
American Nay, more, they went so far
as to put MaCGahan'S pursuers oil the
track; and in the town from which they
started. the admiration for the Correspon-
dents pluck was SO great that a Celebra-
tion was arranged to welcome him should
he be overtaken and brought back. But
he was not overtaken
He had started for Khiva. and To Khiva
he would 90. He entered the Russian
camp specter of himself. Officers
stopped in the midst of battle to express
their admiration. He had one chance in
a hundred of getting through that desert
alive He accepted it, and he not only
won, but he eluded the CosSaCks. He
saw Khiva taken. He was one of the
first TO enter its portals, and his dcsCrip-
ton of it and the fight stands ON record as
masterpiece of its kind.
Why did he risk his life in this way
Every stop he took every pound uf flesh
he lost-and he lost nearly all al twas
for one purpose, and one only Ia get re
news. to reach khiva. TO lay before the
world the story OF Russia first step tow
ard India.
ANOTHER ACHIEVEMENT.
Nor was this his last achievement In
the spring of 1876 he was in London.
Picking up paper, lie read brief dis
patch telling Of the Turkish MASSACRE in
Bulgaria. He saw the tremendous i'm
portance of the item In an hour he had
arranged to 90 to Bulgaria. He hurried
TO the scene of the Nimes He painted
them in master strokes. He pictured lie
dead girls in the pillaged towns. He went
everywhere, cheering the people, assisting
them, pleading their cause with his pen,
telling them that the car would aven e
the outrage. and bidding them take coUr-
age. In thirty days he changed the whole
complexion of European politics. His lot
tiers Were the sensation Of the world.
Beaconsiield, the friend of the Turk, arose
in the house of commons and denounced
them as false; he had official denials. .tele-
graphed from Constantinople.
But MacGahan rode on and wrote on,
until the Russian army crossed the Pruth,
and then, attached TO the staff Of the conf
manding officer, he went through the ire
and smoke, writing his splendid descrip-
tiOns in the midst of battle; fighting and
laughing and writing, and eiectrifying the
world by the words he placed on the tele-
graph wires. He saw Plevna fall; he was
wounded in Schipka Pass; he saw all the
big events Of the war. When Ignatief
drew the famous treaty at San StefanO,
he said that it would not stand, and he
lived TO see it torn up and laughed at. He
never made a prediction that was not full
filled. No charge, except the futile de-
nial by Disraeli, was ever made against
his veracity No man in Europe enjoyed
higher esteem and respect than did he.
And when, nire years ago last Thurs
day, a swift fever carried him beyond
all earthly wars, the Russian, Gen Skobe-
left, closed his eyes and shed tears at his
grave. The Ohio legislature had his re-
mains removed 10 his native state When
the Grand Duke Nicholas heard of his
death he said: Too bad! He would have
been governor of Bulgaria" And as reg
ularly rs the 9th of June comes, every
hamlet, every village, every city of Bull
garia commentaries his death and sends
up prayers for the repose of one Of the
noblest souls that God ever made. Lynn
r. Meekins' address.